I am really a fan of the Dystopian genre. Something about showing humans at their most cruel is fascinating. This one is a bit Lord of the Flies meets The Hunger Games.

The book begins with the main character, Thomas, ascending in an elevator of sorts. He has no idea how he got there and has no memory of his life before that moment.

When he arrives at the surface he is met by a group of boys who all arrived in the same way and with the same loss of memory.

The author does a great job of making you feel what it must be like for Thomas to have been thrown suddenly into such a place. The "glade" and the community of sorts that the boys have built, and the maze, extremely menacing and imposing are all experienced in detail by the reader.

The way the leaders of the boys run things is harsh (there is even an execution carried out) and it is heart wrenching to see what are essentially children, forced to take on these roles, but I think that a strict system like theirs would be necessary in such a situation. There are no adults and they are doing the best they can to maintain order in what could easily turn into fear induced chaos.

The end of this book is fast paced and full of action and tragedy.

This is the first book in a series so it is left with mysteries yet unsolved and alludes to plenty more for Thomas and the other boys to overcome.

The good thing is other books in the series are already available and the movie for The Maze Runner will be in theatres this year!